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What we do is go to a month, two months of rehearsal, when we are going to play for carnival. That is the most native event I’ve been in [here], because there are not many. Before, there was one for San Pedro, another for February… Unfortunately, it has been lost. [Now] there are few, very few. They [rehearse] throughout the month. Then the last week is more consecutive rehearsals, and everyone has to be there. In the dance, it is a team, a troupe – ten or 15 couples representing a community. But [the number of] musicians doesn’t get up to more than five. We normally go with the same crew here, the musicians all dressed alike. The teams are very characteristic of [Potosí]. It’s not like in Oruro or La Paz. It’s very traditional. For the dance, there are also guides, who are the first couples who have to dance perfectly. They can’t make a wrong move.

Musicians, too. No mistakes are allowed, because everything depends on the musicians. [Before the performance], all night they have to perform the blood sacrifice rituals until the god, the melodies enter the instrument. Why is this done? Because there are other troupes, and usually in the Andean cosmovision, there is always that competition between teams. There is always a contest. Anyone is able to compete, any community around Potosí can compete. Everyone needs to have enthusiasm, because all the communities participate, and you have to give your best. It’s tough everywhere, as well as here. You get tired from the time playing. But you can’t stop. That’s why you get [given] alcohol all the time. In all the manifestations of culture in the Andean region, there is always that rivalry and competition. – Lucho